Strawdog Theatre to Launch 2016-17 Season with DISTANCE World Premiere

Strawdog Theatre Company is proud to announce the first production in its 2016 - 2017 season, the world premiere of Jerre Dye's Distance, August 25 - October 1, directed by Erica Weiss, performed at The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard. Previews are Thursday, Aug. 25 - Saturday, Aug. 27 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, August 28 at 4 p.m. Opening night is Monday, Aug. 29 at 8 p.m.

The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. All performances have ground level access and are wheelchair accessible, with a special Access Project performance Sunday, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m.* Preview tickets are $15 with regular run tickets $30, they may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111. Subscriptions, group, rush, senior and student discounts are also available.

Irene Radford (Janice O'Neill) has family. Caretakers too. But as her struggle with Alzheimers puts those she depends upon beyond her memory's reach, new bonds form between those she's leaving behind. Making her Strawdog debut, Jeff Award nominee Erica Weiss, director of Route 66's acclaimed productions of A Twist of Water, The Downpour and Cicada, as well as The Gift Theatre's Grapes of Wrath, reunites with playwright Jerre Dye (Cicada) to bring to life this heartfelt and poetic world premiere that delves into questions of memory, identity and the inevitability of change.

Additional cast includes guest artists Anita Deely, Loretta Rezos, Caleb Fullen and Stephen Rader.

The Distance production team also includes Strawdog Company Ensemble Members John Kelly, lighting designer; Heath Hays, Sound Designer; Brittany Dee Bodley, costume designer with guest artists Skye Robinson Hillis, assistant director; Richard Latshaw, properties designer; Mike Mroch, production manager; Jessica Fialko, assistant lighting designer; Becca Levy, stage manager; Ashley Ann Woods, scenic designer; Ivy Reid, master electrician and Sammi Grant, dialect coach.

*ACCESS PROJECT - All productions in Strawdog's 2016-2017 season are wheelchair and ADA compliant. In addition, Strawdog Theatre's Access Project performance Sunday, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m., includes open captioning, audio description and touch tour services. A touch tour begins at 2:30 p.m. on the day of the Access Project performance.

Strawdog Theatre Company offers six tickets at a 50% discount one hour before every production. The rush ticket must be purchased in person, exclusively at the Strawdog Box Office. Limit of two tickets per person, not applicable with other discounts, offers or on previously purchased tickets, first come, first served.

Playwright Jerre Dye is a Chicago writer, director, and actor. Dye is the recipient of the Award for Dramatic Literature from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. In 2014 his Jeff nominated play, Cicada premiered through Route 66 Theatre Company. That same year, he completed the libretto for Ghosts of Crosstown, a new short opera cycle in collaboration with Opera Memphis and four composers from across the US. He is currently working on opera commissions for Chautauqua Opera, The US Army Field Band and Chorus, a filmed virtual reality opera for Opera on Tap New York, all while completing his newest play, Live Studio Audience.

Director Erica Weiss is a Jeff Award-nominated theatre director and filmmaker based in Chicago, Illinois. She was the recipient of The Goodman Theatre's Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship, and is an ensemble member with The Gift Theatre. Her primary passions lie in the development of new work and bringing female voices to the stage and screen. Weiss is a longtime and frequent collaborator with writer Caitlin Parrish, directing their world premiere productions of The Downpour (Joseph Jefferson Nominee for Best Production, Best Director, Best New Work and Best Lead Actress), and A Twist of Water with Route 66 Theatre Company and off-Broadway at 59E59. In the fall, she will make her Steppenwolf directing debut with Caitlin Parrish's The Burials, the first show of the 16-17 Steppenwolf for Young Adults season. Other recent projects include The Bachelors by Caroline V McGraw, and The Grapes of Wrath with The Gift Theatre. Her first feature film, The View From Tall, co-directed with Parrish, recently premiered to critical acclaim at The Los Angeles Film Festival, and their original television pilot Red Line is in development with Warner Brothers.

Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected.

*Strawdog Theatre Company recently announced its 2016 - 2017 season will be produced in its itinerant home at the new Factory Theatre in Rogers Park, 1621 W. Howard St. on the Chicago-Evanston border in the historic Howard Theatre building. The theatre space is a newly created 70 seat three-quarters thrust just two blocks from CTA's Howard Red Line terminal. Strawdog's 29th Season may be viewed online at strawdog.org.

Photo by Jon Cole